§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many formal notices her Department has received in the last year from the Parliamentary Ombudsman expressing an intention to carry out an investigation; and in respect of each notice how long it took to respond. [18771]
§ Estelle Morris[holding answer 27 November 2001]: Information on the outcome of statutory investigations which were concluded during 2000–01 are set out in the Parliamentary Ombudsman's Annual Report for 2000–01, copies of which are available in the Library of the House, or on the Parliamentary Ombudsman's website at www.ombudsman.org.uk/pca/docu ment/par01/index.htm.
Between 1 April 2001 and 31 October 2001 my Department received five new statutory statements of complaint from the Parliamentary Ombudsman. So far, my Department has responded to all of these cases, and the average time taken to respond overall is 21 days.